IIJA Bureau of Land Management Wyoming Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management | L23AS00183

Opportunity Information: Apply for L23AS00183

The IIJA Bureau of Land Management Wyoming Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L23AS00183) is a discretionary federal grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), focused on cultural and paleontological resource management activities in Wyoming. It is offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally means BLM expects to be substantially involved in the project during performance (for example, coordinating technical approaches, providing oversight, or collaborating on deliverables), rather than simply issuing funds with minimal federal participation. The program is categorized under Natural Resources and is associated with CFDA/Assistance Listing 15.224.

This funding is aimed at supporting work that helps identify, protect, manage, and responsibly steward cultural resources (such as archaeological sites, historic properties, and related heritage assets) and paleontological resources (such as fossil localities and specimens) on lands administered by BLM in Wyoming. While the notice text provided does not list specific project types in detail, the title and program framing indicate that funded efforts are meant to strengthen on-the-ground management capacity and outcomes tied to these resources, consistent with BLM land stewardship responsibilities and IIJA-related priorities.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit or educational entities rather than private commercial or individual applicants. Specifically, eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Tribal governments; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (so long as they are not institutions of higher education when applying under the nonprofit category). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible to apply.

A key restriction in the notice is that this NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice explains that the Public Lands Corps Act is the legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that specific framework, and that youth-focused conservation corps activities must be pursued through a different funding route. In practical terms, if an organization is looking to build a project around youth crews, internships, or similar placements under Public Lands Corps authorities, this opportunity is not the correct vehicle. Instead, eligible Youth Conservation Corps are directed to apply under NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands, for projects designed around those kinds of youth internship or crew arrangements.

The opportunity listed an award ceiling of $45,000, indicating the maximum expected federal funding per award under this announcement, and it carried an original closing date of April 12, 2023. The listing was created on February 11, 2023. While the number of expected awards is not clearly provided in the source data excerpt, applicants would typically interpret the ceiling and the cooperative agreement structure to mean projects should be scoped realistically to fit within a modest budget and within the kind of collaborative, BLM-involved execution that cooperative agreements imply.

Overall, this NOFO is best suited for eligible governmental, Tribal, nonprofit, and higher-education partners seeking to carry out cultural and paleontological resource management work in Wyoming on BLM-managed lands, with the understanding that it is not intended to function as a youth internship/crew hiring mechanism and that those workforce development elements must be routed through the separate, specifically authorized youth conservation funding opportunity.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IIJA Bureau of Land Management Wyoming Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.224.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-02-11.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-12. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $45,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

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